IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5906 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To amend the America COMPETES Act to establish Department of Energy policy for Advanced Research Projects 

Agency–Energy, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ARPA-E Act of 2018’’. 

3 SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY–EN4 ERGY. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 5012(b) of the Amer6 ica COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(b)) is amended 

7 by striking ‘‘development of energy technologies’’ and in8 serting ‘‘development of transformative science and tech9 nology solutions to address energy, environmental, eco10 nomic, and national security challenges’’. 

11 (b) GOALS.—Section 5012(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 16538(c)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking paragraph (1)(A) and inserting 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) to enhance the economic and energy 

16 security of the United States through the devel17 opment of energy technologies that— 

18 ‘‘(i) reduce imports of energy from 

19 foreign sources; 

20 ‘‘(ii) reduce energy-related emissions, 

21 including greenhouse gases; 

22 ‘‘(iii) improve the energy efficiency of 

23 all economic sectors; 

24 ‘‘(iv) provide transformative solutions 

25 to improve the management, clean-up, and 

26 disposal of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) low-level radioactive waste; 

2 ‘‘(II) spent nuclear fuel; and 

3 ‘‘(III) high-level radioactive 

4 waste; 

5 ‘‘(v) improve efficiency and reduce the 

6 environmental impact of all forms of en7 ergy production; 

8 ‘‘(vi) improve the resiliency, reliability, 

9 and security of the electric grid; and 

10 ‘‘(vii) address other challenges within 

11 the mission of the Department as deter12 mined by the Secretary; and’’; and 

13 (2) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘energy tech14 nology projects’’ and inserting ‘‘advanced technology 

15 projects’’. 

16 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 5012(e)(3)(A) of 

17 such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(e)(3)(A)) is amended by strik18 ing ‘‘energy’’. 

19 (d) STRATEGIC VISION ROADMAP.—Section 

20 5012(h)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(h)(2)) is 

21 amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(2) STRATEGIC VISION ROADMAP.—In the re23 port required under paragraph (1), the Director 

24 shall include a roadmap describing the strategic vi25 sion that ARPA-E will use to guide the choices of 


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1 ARPA-E for future technology investments over the 

2 following 2 fiscal years.’’. 

3 (e) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—Section 

4 5012(i)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(i)(1)) is amend5 ed to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 

7 practicable, the Director shall ensure that— 

8 ‘‘(A) the activities of ARPA–E are coordi9 nated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, 

10 programs and laboratories within the Depart11 ment and other relevant research agencies; and 

12 ‘‘(B) ARPA–E does not provide funding 

13 for a project unless the prospective grantee 

14 demonstrates sufficient attempts to secure pri15 vate financing or indicates that the project is 

16 not independently commercially viable.’’. 

17 (f) EVALUATION.—Section 5012(l) of such Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 16538(l)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 

22 after the date of enactment of the ARPA-E Act of 

23 2018, the Secretary is authorized to enter into a 

24 contract with the National Academy of Sciences 

25 under which the National Academy shall conduct an 


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1 evaluation of how well ARPA-E is achieving the 

2 goals and mission of ARPA-E.’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting ‘‘is 

5 authorized to’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘the recommendation of 

7 the National Academy of Sciences’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘a recommendation’’. 

9 (g) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.— 

10 Section 5012 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsection (n) as sub12 section (o); and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (m) the fol14 lowing new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(n) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMA16 TION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following categories of 

18 information collected by ARPA-E from recipients of 

19 awards under this section shall be considered privi20 leged and confidential and not subject to disclosure 

21 pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States 

22 Code: 

23 ‘‘(A) Plans for commercialization of tech24 nologies developed under the award, including 

25 business plans, technology-to-market plans, 


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1 market studies, and cost and performance mod2 els. 

3 ‘‘(B) Investments provided to an awardee 

4 from third parties (such as venture capital 

5 firms, hedge funds, and private equity firms), 

6 including amounts and the percentage of owner7 ship of the awardee provided in return for the 

8 investments. 

9 ‘‘(C) Additional financial support that the 

10 awardee— 

11 ‘‘(i) plans to invest, or has invested, 

12 into the technology developed under the 

13 award; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) is seeking from third parties. 

15 ‘‘(D) Revenue from the licensing or sale of 

16 new products or services resulting from re17 search conducted under the award. 

18 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF SUBSECTION.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection shall be construed to affect— 

20 ‘‘(A) the authority of the Secretary to use 

21 information without publicly disclosing such in22 formation; or 

23 ‘‘(B) the responsibility of the Secretary to 

24 transmit information to Congress as required 

25 by law.’’. 


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1 (h) FUNDING.—Section 5012(o)(4) of such Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 16538(o)(4)), as redesignated by subsection (g)(1), 

3 is amended by striking ‘‘during the 5-year period begin4 ning on the date of enactment of this Act’’. 

5 (i) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) Section 5012(g)(3)(A)(iii) of such Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 16538(g)(3)(A)(iii)) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘subpart’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sub9 paragraph’’. 

10 (2) Section 5012(o)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 16538(o)(2)), as redesignated by subsection (g)(1), 

12 is amended by striking ‘‘paragraphs (4) and (5)’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 27, 2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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